Clive Palmer stands by China ‘mongrels’ insult

Clive Palmer says legal disputes with Citic have precluded him from visiting China for several years. “If I went they’d shoot me,” he maintains.
Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

by
Phillip Coorey and Tony Walker

The federal government has been forced to reassure Beijing that its relationship with Australia’s largest trading partner was still valued, but Clive Palmer remained unrepentant over his outburst in which he labelled the Chinese “mongrels" and “bastards".

Mr Palmer told The Australian Financial Review his remarks were not aimed at China’s people but its leadership. He made “no distinction" between his Chinese business partners Citic Pacific, with whom he is in a legal dispute, and China’s leadership.

Mortified by the damage being done to Australia’s international reputation, business and industry pleaded with Labor and the Coalition to co-operate in Parliament to stop the nation being held hostage by minor parties.

The Chinese government labelled Mr Palmer’s outburst as “absurd and irresponsible", while media magnate Kerry Stokes told the billionaire-turned politician to “separate his personal interests from the interests of the Commonwealth".

AFR
AFR

“He has a responsibility as a parliamentarian to look after the interests of the people he represents, not his personal interest, and the fact he is incapable of negotiating his own arrangements with outstanding firms, that’s his problem. It shouldn’t spill over into our national interest," he said.

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Mr Palmer is currently fighting two court cases against Citic, which claims $12 million in royalty payments were improperly siphoned off to pay for Mr Palmer’s election campaign.

Mr Palmer told the Financial Review the dispute has precluded him from visiting China for several years. “If I went they’d shoot me," he said.

Mr Palmer attacked the Chinese on Monday night when asked about his Citic dispute on the ABC.

“We’ve had three judgements in the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Western Australia and an arbitration against these Chinese mongrels.

“I’m saying that because they’re Communist, they shoot their own ­people, they haven’t got a justice system and they want to take over this country. And we’re not going to let them," he said.

“The Chinese government wants to bring workers here to destroy our wage system . . . they want to take over our ports and get our resources for free."

Palmer United Party senator
Jacqui Lambie
backed her boss, and added that China posed a grave threat to Australia.

“Both Labor and the Liberals­Nationals have failed to build an ­Australian military that is able to defend us and stop our grandchildren from becoming slaves to an aggressive, anti-democratic, totalitarian foreign power," she said.

Chinese-born PUP senator
Dio Wang
also backed Mr Palmer, saying he had always found him respectful and supportive and “there has never been the slightest suggestion on his part of a prejudicial view of members of the Chinese community".

The government was forced into damage control. Foreign Minister
Julie Bishop
called the comments offensive and she contacted the Chinese embassy to “let them know that these were the comments of one Member of Parliament and not representative".

West Australian Premier
Colin Barnett
labelled Mr Palmer a racist and he, too, rang the embassy.

The embassy said in a statement “the words of Mr Clive Palmer MP were absurd and irresponsible, which are full of ignorance and prejudice".

With Labor and the Coalition at daggers drawn on key policy and budget measures, Mr Palmer’s party, with its three senators, has become enormously influential in Parliament.

The Australian Industry Group’s national executive passed a resolution on Tuesday pleading for stability.

“The Australian Industry Group is rigorously non-partisan but considers that now is the time for the major parties to work together in a bipartisan fashion to restore Australia’s reputation internationally," said chief executive
Innes Willox
.

“This includes bipartisan agreements to break the deadlock in the senate on issues including taxation, infrastructure, skills and deregulation so as to end the nation being held hostage to minor parties and self interest."

Opposition Leader
Bill Shorten
said: “Using that kind of language to describe one of Australia’s good friends and neighbours is irresponsible and certainly not in Australia’s best interests."